Wifi and access points

So, my trusty Netgear 900 is on it's last legs. I have an Engenius access point that covers the center of my second floor with the router in my basement where the service enters the house.

Will the new routers with all the 4-6 antennas work okay in the basement.
I'm happy with my setup and the mesh system is fine but the clutter of this stuff isn't appealing.

Can I just connect my existing access point to the new Netgear Nighthawk and get back to work?

I hear great things on the ubiquity products too. But I think my Engenius AP is plenty good for me.

Thank you all,

Tom

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The frequencies that WiFi uses are pretty much line of sight. In a house there will be walls and other things (furniture, etc.) that get in the way and, of course, reflections. All that makes for a crap shoot and it is a wonder that they work at all.

The best you can do is to start with a central location on a 3D basis and make adjustments from there. Another feature of those frequencies is that changing the location of the antenna by small amounts (inches and even centimeters) can make big differences. So small adjustments can help or make things worse. This is part of the reason why those routers with four and six antenna can perform better. If one antenna is not doing it, the next one may.

I have a single story house with no basement and am presently trying to relocate my router at a higher point on top of a bookcase so the signal has less furniture and other objects to get past/through. I have high hopes, but there are no guarantees. Just cut and try.

In your case (basement and two floors) you could try a central location on the first floor. If that does not work, either get extender(s) for the bad spots while leaving the main router alone or try locating it in the center of the basement and an extender either high in the center of the first floor or low in the center of the second. Think about what is in the paths from the router and extender locations and the locations of the equipment using the WiFi. You may need two or more extenders and that is OK. Try to avoid going through things like a refrigerator or washing machine or a large piece of furniture. Metal is worse, but anything in the path is bad.

Is this for a home or a business?
I live in a 3,500sqft home which has two floors and a full basement. I am using a Netgear Orbi mesh system and it's been excellent so far (6 months). Mine is the AC2200 model with the RBK20 router and two RB20 satellites.
The router is in the living room in the first floor, one satellite in the master bedroom in the second floor and one satellite in the basement media/play room.
I highly recommend the Netgear Orbi mesh systems. If you have the budget go for the more high end AC3100 system which has a RBK53 router and two RB40 satellites.

I just installed a Google wifi mesh system, still getting used to it. It did allow me to retire the Netgear WGR I had as a WAP on my second floor and extend the wifi from the house into the shop. I'm going to add another of their pucks upstairs to try and get a little more range but it's pretty good with the 3 that I have. Once I'm happy I'll disable the wifi on the DSL router in the garage.

Now all I need is a nanocell for the shop. Cell coverage is really spotty out there.

I have a Cisco that sits in the basement up on top of a metal wall cabinet, basically under the front door in a 2 story brick house.

I get a good signal all over the house, including in the extension rooms at the back of the house. I do not know how much farther I can go and use it, but I know the signal is detectable at neighboring houses, and I have used the signal at one.

Signal goes through furniture, plaster walls, etc, which I would expect it to do. I have a cheap tablet that does not always work well if I am in bed directly above the router. Nor sure if that is due to antenna position or shielding from the bedsprings.

All of the walls are wood lath and plaster, no metal lath. Metal lath would probably cause some signal blocking.

The best wifi system i've ever had has been two ubiquity unifi access points with a unifi router. They are a fantastic company and their system has had basically no faults for the past number of years i've been using it.

AHUNT said:

The best wifi system i've ever had has been two ubiquity unifi access points with a unifi router. They are a fantastic company and their system has had basically no faults for the past number of years i've been using it.

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AHUNT,

Which router and AP's?

Thanks,

Tom

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I've got one of these Ubiquiti Unifi access points at the house and like it. Easy to set up and run multiple networks on , powered via POE so its easy to put it in a more ideal location.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PRO512/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

rbent said:

I've got one of these Ubiquiti Unifi access points at the house and like it. Easy to set up and run multiple networks on , powered via POE so its easy to put it in a more ideal location.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PRO512/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Are you using a Ubiquiti router too or another manufacturer?

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I'm using the original modem/router from AT&T where the service comes in at.

rbent said:

I'm using the original modem/router from AT&T where the service comes in at.

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I was hoping that's what you'd say. Didn't know if ubiquiti had proprietary equipment.

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I had to dump the Spectrum supplied modem because it was a POS. I got a Motorola surfboard and am now avoiding the equipment rental fee. I am using their USGhttps://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Unifi-Security-Gateway-USG/dp/B00LV8YZLK with these APs https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=unifi+access+point&qid=1556043290&s=electronics&sr=1-3

rke[pler said:

Now all I need is a nanocell for the shop. Cell coverage is really spotty out there.

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Pretty much any modern cellphone should be able to do voice/text over WiFi... That's how I stayed in contact with the world after Irma rolled through...